Bryston BP-17 cubed or Benchmrk LA4 Preamp

Keven,

I had the same experience with a Pass XP-12.  I was so happy that I didn’t sell my Bryston BP-26.  That’s the second time I’ve replaced a Bryston piece with another highly regarded replacement, only to put the Bryston back in my system.  Thankfully I’m done upgrading now.

Toolbox149

@kevemaher I find it interesting but not shocking that the Pass preamp did not pair well with your Bryston amp. System synergy and how it sounds to you is ultimately what is most important.  I was considering a Pass XP-12 preamp to pair with my Pass amp and while I'd expect the pairing to work well, I ultimately went in a completely different direction.  I purchased the Revelation Raven tubed preamp, the brainchild of Don Sachs and Lynn Olson, from Spatial Audio and it brings a big smile to my face every time I listen to music.

Well, here's an update on my exceedingly frustrating search for a new preamp.

I've listened all month to the used Bryston BDP-17 cubed I bought a month ago, It took a while, but I've concluded that it too produces a sibilance that I just can't stand to listen to for long, even if this sibilance is far less noticable than in the Pass preamp.

I put the Levinson no 38s back into the system. Bingo, great sound, no sibilance (unless it is on the recording). But it is 30+ years old. Listener bias?

The sibilance from the Pass and Bryston is most noticable on the early Decca LPs of Wagner's Ring, particularly the ones that were recorded in the late 1950s to mid 1960s. It was recorded in a former dance hall by John Culshaw and conducted by Georg Solti. The first LPs from this era had a lot of sibilance and some screechiness on voices. It is listenable with the 38s, intolerable with the BP-17 cubed and the XP-12.

Maybe the 38s is missing some detail that the others pick up. So they might be more true to the source. I do know that the 38s creates music is can listen to without worrying about when the next insult to my ears will come. It stays, for now.

I've not tried a tube preamp. I have an 80s Paragon System E preamp. I have completely rebuilt the power supply with all new components. I'm now using this amp as a phono preamp. I enjoy the smooth mellow sound I get on LPs with this preamp. 

I will temporarily replace the 38s with the Paragon E. If I really like it, I will find a way to keep it in the system as my preamp. But since it is quite old, I am also searching for a modern day tube preamp, such as the Linear Tube Audio microZOTL preamp.

The big downside of the Paragon is that there is no remote. I'll need to find a workaround for that.

You should try the Holo Audio Serene preamp. I have the LA4 and the Serene. They are almost identical, except the Serene is a bit warmer but not too warm.

After all this preamp testing, my pocketbook is a bit lighter but I have  learned a lot.

The smoothest, sweetest, most pleasing sound is from a 1980 vintage Paragon System E tube preamp that I bought years ago new. I recently rebuilt the external power supply, replacing everything except the transformer. The caps were out of value and I needed to size a resistor to supply the 12V heaters. I installed six new Genalex Gold Lion ECC83/B759 tubes to replace the vintage Tungsram 12AX7 tubes that were the original equipment.

I've been using this set-up now for about two weeks. Really sweet and articulate strings and female voices. Beautiful. And I think it has passed the long term smoke test.

But... there is no remote volume control!

I put the Levinson no 38s into duty as a volume control . It has exquisite control of volume (0,1dB steps !). And it does the conversion from single ended RCA signal inputs to true balanced outputs is done insoide the no 38s! Two problems solved.

The end of the journey.

Now I'm off to create more problems for myself.....